What makes a diaper Good Stuff?
I hope all of this helps you guys understand a little more about what makes a healthy baby diaper that’s friendly to the environment. Still, there are dozens of “green, “biodegradable,” or eco friendly diapers on the market; how can we know which ones to buy?
In order for a disposable diaper to be “Good Stuff,” it must:
- Be free of artificial fragrance, dyes, and lotions, all of which have the potential to contain irritants/allergens/toxins and simply aren’t necessary in any diaper. This disqualifies some otherwise decent choices, such as the inexpensive (but, unfortunately, lotion-infused) Aldi diapers.
- Explicitly state that it is free of phthalates, since this cannot be assumed, unfortunately. \
When we talk about the chemicals and additives in diapers, we’re mostly talking about substances that can cause harm to your baby or the environment (often both). Even if these substances don’t harm your baby directly, anything that harms the planet is ultimately harmful to humans, too!
In simpler terms, a non toxic diaper won’t harm plants or animals at any point before, during, or after it’s produced.
Most diapers harm the environment before they even reach store shelves. Every chemical, from dioxins to polymers, ends up in the water supply. And unfortunately, from there, these chemicals can enter the food chain in a few ways.
Most of the time, such toxins are consumed by hungry marine life, which is consumed by larger marine life, which is consumed by humans. Scientists have already found that chemical-derived microplastics have the potential to change human DNA.
These two criteria are the bare essentials if your only concern is the safety and well-being of the diaper user. (But I know you all are better than that!)
Given the significant environmental impact of disposable diapers, a “Best Stuff” diaper also must:
- Be either Elementally Chlorine Free (ECF) or Totally Chlorine Free (TCF). For the reasons explained above.
- Be free of petroleum-derived plastics. There are now enough bamboo and other plant-based diapers on the market to eliminate any brand that uses petroleum in its production from the Best Stuff category, even if it poses no real risk to the baby wearing the diaper. This is a happy change from when we wrote the first version of the Gimme the Good Stuff Disposable Diapers guide.
Best Diapers for Sensitive Skin
Kudos is our pick if your baby is prone to rashes or eczema. It’s the first disposable diaper to have 100% cotton touching your baby’s skin, and no plastic. Cotton is naturally soft and hypoallergenic, so it is less likely to irritate sensitive skin.
Do biodegradable diapers exist?
By virtue of using plant-based rather than petroleum-based ingredients, the diapers that we’ve labeled as Best Stuff are inherently compostable or biodegradable to varying degrees. Some of these brands supplement with a “bio-based SAP” or with cornstarch in the absorbent core to limit the amount of traditional SAP used. The other core component, “fluff,” is wood pulp (cellulose) that undergoes a more traditional bleaching process.
Many people criticize diaper brands that market themselves as “biodegradable” or “compostable” because:
- Traditional landfills are inherently non-conducive to biodegradation due to an absence of oxygen, soil, and microorganisms.
- Compostable is only relevant when you have a way to compost where you live (keeping in mind that human feces should not be composted!), and anyone who is planning to compost their diapers will need to make sure they understand how to do this properly.
Dr. Hopkins and I agree that, despite these concerns, there are still valid reasons to choose a “compostable” or “biodegradable ” diaper brand. Namely, a reduction in use of petroleum on the production end, as well as sending a message to the industry about the demand for more environmentally sustainable consumer products.
Reasons to Switch to Cloth Diapers
Before I tell you which are the very best disposable diapers, here’s why you shouldn’t use any of them, even the ones I can sell you from our online store:
- Conventional plastic diapers contain small amounts of dioxin—a byproduct of the bleaching process. As discussed above, this doesn’t pose a risk to your baby, but it’s really bad for the environment.
- Even if you use non toxic disposable diapers, you’re probably familiar with the little gel clumps that sometimes stick to your baby’s skin when you wait too long to change her. Known as SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer), some people worry about it because it was linked to toxic shock syndrome when it was in tampons. While I don’t think it causes a health risk to babies, it is not biodegradable, and thus not an earth-friendly choice.
- A Greenpeace study found the hormone-disrupting TBT (tributyltin) in many diaper brands.
- I know we are all bored with the landfill stats, but the fact remains that a disposable diaper can take as long as 500 years to decompose.
- In response to the popular misconception that cloth diapers are just as bad for the environment as disposables (a myth propagated by a study funded by Procter & Gamble), an independent report found that disposable diapers produce more than 50 times the waste of cloth diapers and use twice as much water and triple the energy.
What about cloth diapers with flushable liners?
I didn’t use them myself, but tons of readers and friends are devoted to the so-called “hybrid diapers” with the flushable liners.
The truth about these products is that they aren’t even really flushable. All flushable products must either be initially small enough to flush (which the liners are not) or dissolve when exposed to water. These liners obviously don’t dissolve when wet or they would be unsuitable for their purpose!
In other words, it would be impossible to manufacture a liner that is both flushable and effective.
While they do break down eventually, it’s not quick enough to negate their negative impact on the environment—or your bathroom pipes. Not only will they clog up home plumbing and septic systems, but they linger in sewers and other waterways. Because of the aforementioned conditions in landfills, they may be there for years.
The consensus? Hybrid diapers are an improvement over disposable diapers, but they still are not as good as cloth diapers. Our favorite cloth diaper brand is Esembly. Use code GOODSTUFF10 for 10% off.
